"Nobody's Fool" is a song by the British rock band

Slade Slade are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British H ...

, released in 1976 as the third and final single from the band's sixth studio album '' Nobody's Fools''. It was written by lead vocalist

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder c ...

and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by

Chas Chandler Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He ...

. Released in April 1976, the single failed to chart in the UK Top 50, but reached No. 3 on the BMRB's UK Breakers Chart.

Background

By 1975, Slade began to feel stale, believing they had achieved as much success in the UK and Europe as they could. The band and their manager Chas Chandler decided that their next career move should be to try and crack America. The band agreed to move to there and build a reputation for their live performances from scratch, just as they had in the UK. In between touring, the band recorded their next album, ''Nobody's Fools'', which was released in March 1976. Like the title track, the album saw Slade move towards a more "American" soul/pop sound in attempt to gain a commercial break on the American charts. Lea had originally intended for "Nobody's Fool" to be a "twenty-minute extravaganza". However, the band later agreed to cut the duration and record the song in a more standard format to appeal to the band's fanbase. The song featured

Tasha Thomas Tasha Thomas ( – November 8, 1984) was an American singer and actress, known for her role as Aunt Em in the original Broadway production of ''The Wiz''. Thomas also had a hit single, "Shoot Me (With Your Love)", from her 1979 album, ''Midn ...

on backing vocals. Chandler had produced the album himself, instead of finding a producer with a proven track record – maybe not his cleverest move on the band's behalf. Released as a single in April 1976, the song failed to reach the UK Top 50, breaking Slade's run of seventeen consecutive hits. It reached No. 3 on the BMRB's UK Breakers Chart, which would be equal to No. 53 on the UK Singles Chart at a time when the national singles chart only ran to the Top 50. In America, "Nobody's Fool" was the only single to be released from the album, but like the album, it was not a commercial success there.

Release

"Nobody's Fool" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor in the UK, Belgium, Germany, Yugoslavia, Canada and Brazil. In America, it was released by Warner Bros. Records. The B-side on the Polydor releases of the single was the ''Nobody's Fools'' album track "L.A. Jinx". In America, "When the Chips Are Down" featured as the B-side, which was previously the B-side to the 1976 single "Let's Call It Quits". In Brazil, "Nobody's Fool" was released as a four-track extended play, including "Let's Call It Quits", "In for a Penny" and "Can You Just Imagine".

Music video

A music video was filmed at St. Johns Wood Studios in London by the production company Trilion Video. It was directed by

Bruce Gowers Bruce Gowers is a British television director and producer, best known for his work on large-scale live music and event productions. Gowers started his career in his native United Kingdom, where his music video for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" b ...

, who directed

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...

" video the year before. Despite being Slade's most complex video at that time, it would only be shown once in the UK on Sally James's

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

show ''Saturday Scene''.

Critical reception

Upon release as a single, ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' felt it was the "best single Slade have released for ages", adding that it was "very catchy", "bright and bouncy", and "Slade at their best". In a retrospective review of ''Nobody's Fools'', Geoff Ginsberg of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

stated the song was "excellent, but marred by a bad arrangement".

Formats

;7" single #"Nobody's Fool" – 3:50 #"L.A. Jinx" – 3:57 ;7" single (American release) #"Nobody's Fool (Edit)" – 3:15 #"When the Chips are Down" – 4:16 ;7" single (American promo release) #"Nobody's Fool (Edit) (Mono)" – 3:15 #"Nobody's Fool (Edit) (Stereo)" – 3:15 ;7" single (Brazilian EP release) #"Nobody's Fool" – 3:50 #" Let's Call It Quits" – 3:30 #" In for a Penny" – 3:35 #"Can You Just Imagine" – 3:32

Cover versions

*In 1977, Light Fantastic would record a version of the song for their album ''Sensational''. *In 1979, Jim Lea would record his own version of the song with his brother Frank as part of his side-project

The Dummies The Dummies was a musical project formed by Slade bassist Jim Lea and his brother Frank Lea in 1979. Between 1979 and 1981, they released three singles and recorded a number of original and Slade songs, which were collected on the 1992 album ''A D ...

. This version of the song would not surface until 1992, when it was included on ''

A Day in the Life of the Dummies ''A Day in the Life of the Dummies'' is a compilation album by The Dummies, which was a musical project of Jim Lea of Slade and his brother Frank. The album was released in March 1992 and gathers all of the 1979-80 recordings produced by the pair. ...

'', an album that gathered The Dummies' recordings.

Chart performance

Personnel

;Slade *

– lead vocals, guitar *

Dave Hill David John Hill (born 4 April 1946) is an English rock musician. He is the lead guitarist, a backing vocalist and the sole continuous member in the English band Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. Early life B ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals * Jim Lea – bass, piano, backing vocals *

Don Powell Donald George Powell (born 10 September 1946) is an English musician who was the drummer for glam rock and later hard rock group Slade for over fifty years. Early life As a child, Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the ...

– drums ;Additional personnel *

– producer *

– backing vocals

References

{{Authority control 1976 singles Slade songs Songs written by Noddy Holder Songs written by Jim Lea Song recordings produced by Chas Chandler